Structure blocks



2 Sheecs-Sheeat` 1 STRUCTURE BLOCKS April 7, 1959 E. PlcKERsGlLL Filed March 2e, 1954 April 7, 1959 INVENTOR. E/ EA/VOR P/CKERSG/LL I l/ ff M d da? l ff' Il I' 0 Il m m. 5 @Mmf n United States Patent-O STRUCTURE BLOCKS Eleanor Pickersgll, Alameda, Calif. Application March 26, 1954, Serial No. 418,805 6 Claims. (Cl. 20-4) This invention relates to building construction and more particularly to a structure composed of a plurality of prefabricated, interlocked structural units.

Heretofore conventional wall construction comprising studs, nailing, strips, sheathing, interior wall board, exterior nish materials, and the like has required the use of relatively long, continuous footage of lumber resulting in a large amount of short, scrap pieces which must be discarded. Furthermore, it has not been feasible to prefabricate any `appreciable size of wall panel in the shop and the majority of construction and finishing has taken place in the eld at the building site.

This invention contemplates the use of a plurality of structural units which may be fabricated and finished externally to any desired degree in the shop before transportation to the building site. In addition, the structural units of this invention may be adapted to make use of short lengths of materials that might otherwise be considered scrap and such units can be fabricated economi'- cally on a large volume basis under low cost factory conditions. Further, erection of such units into structural bearing walls or non-bearing partitions is easily accomplished in the eld by unskilled personnel.

The structural units of this invention may be fabricated from any convenient materials such as wood, plastics, light metals and wood iiber products, particularly those capable of being cast or extruded. Said structural units are formed with interlocking faces so as to construct, when assembled, a rigid wall of a strength equal to conventional faced-stud walls. Although it appears preferable toy glue or cement each unit to adjacent units in forming the Wall other means of bonding or securing said units together such as doweling or, in the case of demountable partitions, merely assembling said units, are encompassed by this invention.

The structural units of this .invention are notrestricted to constructing walls but, with design adaptation, are capable of being assembledito form free-standing furniture, built-in furniture, storage closets and the like.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a structure composed of a plurality of prefabricated, interlocked, structural units.

It is another object of'this invention to provide a prefabricated, interlocked, structural unit.

It is another object of this invention toprovide a prefabricated structural unit having grooved faces adaptedy to interlock with similar, adjacent units in forming a structure.

It is still another object of this invention to provide a wall structure fabricated from hollow, interlocking blocks which when assembled form internal studding as well as a pair of opposed facing panels.

It is yet another object of this invention to provide a rigid wall structure that can be easily field-assembled of a plurality of prefabricated, interlocking units.

A further object of this invention is the provision of a structural unit capable o-f prefabrication to any desired degree of structural completion and external and/or ICC internal finish for assembly with like units into a ccm` y tinuous, integral structure such as a wall.

Fig. y2 is a perspective view of several adjacent structural units having facing panels on both sides thereof and showing the interlocking faces thereof;

Fig. 3 is a partial top plan view of theunits of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken ialong line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a corner of a wall prei fabricated in accordance with this invention and showing the structural units arranged in staggered relationship;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of wall fabricated in accordance with this invention showing a window opening and special conduit units.

In detail they structural unit 8 of Fig. 1 is composed* of a plurality of spaced, vertically disposed central stud Y elements 1 and end elements 2 held in said spaced relationship by horizontal joining or nailing strip 3 or by facing panel 4. -Stud elements 1 may be conveniently cut from short lengths of conventional 2" x 4" lumber and have their opposite ends 5, 6 serrated or notched to form locking means such as adjacent V-shaped grooves 7 running longitudinally of unit 8, or may be merely roughened for gluing. End elements 2 may be cut from conventional 1" x 4" lumber and in addition to having their ends serrated as above described, the outwardly directed faces 10 of elements 2 are formed with similar, vertically extending grooves 11. Hence it is seen that unit 8 is like a hollow block having interlocking faces on the top, bottom, and both ends. It is obvious that the basic unit shown may take many different forms without departing from the scope of the invention. The unit may be prefabricated in the shop to any desired degree; e.g. strips 3 only may be used on opposed sides to join elements 1, 2, one or both sides may be finished withv a single facing panel 14 (unit 9 in Fig. 2), or an insulating board or sheathing 15 and a finish board 16 may make up panel 4 (Fig. 1) either internally or externally of unit 8. Any of the finish panels used may be painted, stained, varnished or the like. Interior panels may be left for installation at the building site to facilitate frame inspection and mechanical installations, e.g., plumbing electrical conduit. j

In Figs. 2, 3, 4 it is seen that each unit 9, by virtue of its grooved faces, interlocks with all other adjacent units when said units are assembled to form a wall or the like. Forming end stud elements 2 from 1 by V4s or material half the thickness of central elements 1 produce a single continuous stud at the joint between units 9.

The units may be cemented, doweled, nailed, screwed,-

bolted, or otherwise fastened together during the simple erection process to form a rigid, continuous structure.

Panels 4 or strips 3 may bevinset and nailed to elements 1, 2 as shown in Fig. 1 or may be dove-tailed or otherwise4 with end elements 2 of adjacent units 12. Corner blocks Patented Apr. 7, 1959 24 having serrated faces interlocking 24 are also grooved (as described for elements ll, 2) at each end except that such end grooves run in mutually perpendicular directions at opposite ends of said block to provide a more rigid resulting structure. Corner blocks 24 may also be continuous, extending from top to bottom of the wall formed.

lt will be noted that the units forming walls 20, 21 are laid in courses and in staggered relationship much the same as bricks or concrete blocks. This system has been found preferable from the strength and rigidity standpoint but placement of said units directly in vertical lines does not reduce the effective interlocking of adjacent units. Strips 3 and/ or facing panels 4 may extend across a face of blocks 24 to the corner in order to strengthen the resulting 'structure and improve its appearance.

The structural units of this invention lend themselves to a variety of modifications for a variety of uses. Fig. 6 shows a portion of a wall constructed in accordance with this invention having a window opening therein. The head 33, jambs 34, and sill 35 of the opening are unconventional in that the sides forming the opening are grooved or notched as at 26 to interlock with complementarily grooved units 12. Such an opening may also be formed for doors and the like. Fig. 6 also shows modified units which function as conduit blocks 28. Blocks 28 are shown constnicted with 2 x 6 stud elements 29 and are similar to units 12 except that elements 29 are formed with notches 30 which open inwardly of the wall formed. Electric conduits or water lines 3l and the like may be carried in` notches 30 without impairing the strength of the stud elements and said conduits may be covered by plate 32.

It will be noted that in all cases the assembly of the units provides a wall having built-in, continuous studding as well as a pair of opposed inner and outer Wall faces. The air space between the studs and wall panels acts as effective insulation or it may be filled with any number of insulation materials as in conventional wall construction. The units from which the wall or other structure is fabricated are capable of being easily stored and transported and may be Prefabricated in any convenient size with any convenient stud spacing depending on the strength required.

I claim:

l. A structural unit for fabricating a wall comprising a plurality of horizontally spaced vertically extending stud elements including a pair of end stud elements and at least one horizontally extending strip secured to said elements, the ends of each element having adjacent,

V-shaped grooves extending longitudinally of said unit and the outwardly directed faces of said end elements having adjacent, vertically extending, V-shaped grooves whereby each unit is adapted to interlock with all adjacent similar units to form a wall.

2. A structural unit for fabricating a wall comprising a plurality of horizontally spaced vertically extending stud elements including a pair of end stud elements and at least one horizontally extending strip secured to said elements, the ends of each element having adjacent, V-shaped grooves extending longitudinally of said unit, the outwardly directed faces of said end elements having adjacent, vertically extending, V-shaped grooves, and the thickness of each of said end elements being substantially 4 half the thickness of each of the other of said elements whereby each unit is adapted to interlock with all adjacent similar units to form a wall.

3. A structural unit for fabricating a wall comprising a plurality of horizontally spaced vertically extending stud elements including a pair of end stud elements and at least one siding panel affixed to at least one edge of said elements, the ends of each element having adjacent, V-shaped grooves extending longitudinally of said unit and the outwardly directed faces of said end elements having adjacent, vertically extending, V-shaped grooves whereby each unit is adapted to interlock with all adjacent similar units to form a wall.

4. A structural unit for fabricating a wall comprising a plurality of horizontally spaced vertically extending stud elements including a pair of end stud elements and at least one siding panel afxed to at least one edge of said elements, the ends of each element having adjacent, V-shaped grooves extending longitudinally of said unit and the outwardly directed faces of said end elements having adjacent, vertically extending, V-shaped grooves, said siding panel having tongue and grooved edges to interlock with similar panels on adjacent units whereby each unit is adapted to interlock with all adjacent similar units to form a wall.

5. A structural unit for fabricating a pair of intersecting Walls comprising a plurality of horizontally spaced, vertically extending stud elements, including a pair of end stud elements, the ends of each element having adjacent, V-shaped grooves extending longitudinally of said unit and the outwardly directed face of at least one of said end elements having adjacent, vertically extending, V-shaped grooves, a vertically extending corner block secured to one of said end elements and having adjacent, V-shaped grooves extending in mutually perpendicular directions in each end thereof, and at least one horizontally extending strip secured to said elements, whereby each unit is adapted to interlock with all adjacent similar units to form a pair of intersecting walls.

6. A structural unit for fabricating a wall comprising a plurality of horizontally spaced vertically extending stud elements including a pair of end stud elements and at least one horizontally extending strip secured to said elements, the ends of each element having adjacent, V-shaped grooves extending longitudinally of said unit and the outwardly directed face of each end element having adjacent, vertically extending, V-shaped grooves, said elements further having notches opening outwardly of one side of said units for installing mechanical appliances therein, whereby each unit is adapted to interlock with all adjacent similar units to form a wall.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 635,423 Chase Oct. 24, 1899 699,537 Lahinann May 6, 1902 854,708 Oelschlaeger May 21, 1907 863,493 Arnsen Aug. 13, 1907 1,087,813 Moseley Feb. 17, 1914 1,316,307 Kaiser Sept. 16, 1919 1,330,118 Jahn Feb. 10, 1920 2,311,628 Andrews Feb. 23, 1943 

